An analysis of global conflicts and international events by the scrutiny of reason

Monthly Archives: June 2012

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”Winston Churchill

Professor Varoufakis the above quote illustrates the substantial personal difference between you and Yannis Stournaras, the newly appointed Minister of Finance, on the issue whether Greece has better than a chance under this new government to pull itself, by creative technocratic and Gulliverian efforts, out of the crisis. It saddens me to see you with your Kazantzakian character to distort the truth about the Samaras government that somehow is a continuation of the “ancien regime” when in truth the majority of its members, both from the political and technocratic stables are new and were chosen on meritocratic grounds for their intellectual and technocratic ‘sprints’ and were never associated even in the loosest terms with the major economic policies of either Pasok or New Democracy that had brought Greece to the “edge of the abyss.” To say further that Stournaras should not expect any support from this purportedly coterie of the ancien regime and he was chosen only for the purpose of carrying the major burden of a more than probable failure and to become the scapegoat for it is a most ungracious, and , indeed, malicious statement that could ever come out from the illustrious portals of Academe.

It seems to me that your absolute pessimistic views about events in Europe and Greece cancel you from the vocation of a reformist actively and optimistically engaged in the transformation of a bad situation. It is optimists that win wars and not pessimists! Also it appears to me, that your ‘undying’ wish for the disintegration of the Eurozone is directly related to your Modest Proposal so in the event of Europe’s collapse you can say that it happened because the European elites refused to adopt your all perfect remedy. Thus your disparagement of all politicians and technocrats both inside Greece and in Europe such as Papademos, Samaras, Mario Monti, Mario Draghi, and Jean-Claude Trichet, to mention few. In your planetary immodesty to consider yourself the Sun and all the others as satellites that must reflect the wisdom of your Modest Proposal, is haughtiness of the highest degree. And it is not uncommon, that arrogance emanating from an “aggressively” Narcissistic nature defeats even the strongest of characters. Alas, do you think that at the end you will avoid the fate of Narcissus? Lastly, in your Open Letter to your “friend and colleague” Yannis Stournaras, you congratulate him for his appointment to the Ministry of Finance. My question is why congratulating someone who, according to you, by accepting the appointment he will be digging his own grave?

The survival of nations may sometimes depend on the life of one man. Edward Gibbon

It is inordinately difficult, even for a modern Tiresias, to predict the outcome of the Greek elections, especially when voters are actuated by their intense hopes and fears about the results of either the pro or anti-memorandum scenario that would affect so profoundly their future existence. However judging from the swift change of Syriza’s policy only few days before the voting from the hard position of denouncing the Memorandum to the soft position of solely re-negotiating the burdensome points of the Memorandum with the European leaders, which is no different from the position of New Democracy, Pasok, and the Democratic Left, Syriza was forced to change its intransigent stand in annulling the Memorandum, as it was pronounced in its pre-electoral programme last week, as a result, I suspect, of an internal private poll that showed clearly that New Democracy was outdistancing by a wide margin Syriza in the opinion poll, thus compelling the latter to abandon its principle policy of annulling the Memorandum that apparently scared the electorate that such action would entail Greece’s exit from the Eurozone. Now Syriza sings its hosannas to re-negotiating the Memorandum and making a desperate attempt to join the chorus of reason from its previous dangerous position of denouncing it and taking Greece out of the European Union. But this reversal of policy is too late for Syriza and is exposing it also to the fraud that it attempted to perpetrate on the Greek people.

Antonis Samaras, the illustrious leader of New Democracy, in his sagacious move to form a Pro-European Patriotic Front that would anchor Greece within Europe while negotiating the shoals of the Memorandum that threatened the country’s sinking into everlasting debt and economic poverty, will be the justified victor of the election on June 17. The Tsipras phenomenon was always a flash in the pan and as soon as it was placed upon the burning coals of reality would be blackened and return back to its true colour that from the beginning was its natural intellectual and political shade.

At this critical juncture for Greece whose fate is at stake and the formation of a unity government is imperative, the resolution of the latter’s impasse is in the hands of Fotis Kouvelis, the Leader of the Democratic Left, since the foolish, historically ignorant, hubristic, and unimaginative stand both of Syriza and the Communist Party (CP) to neither participate nor support a coalition government that will be condemned and discredited for many years to come for their politically barren obduracy, only Kouvelis who holds the key to the problem of forming a coalition government can prevent the country’s exit from Europe and at the same time as the embodiment of the ANANEOTIKI Aristera (Renewed Left), can salvage the political ideological credibility of the Left in Greece that is threatened to be obliterated by the doltish position of Syriza and CP.

The constant designated desire of a majority of the Greek people before and after the election was for the parties to form a coalition government and to remain in the Eurozone; also an overwhelming majority of people do not want another election. In the face of this bulky 70% wish of the people to have a coalition government and to stay in Europe, Syriza’s hope that by contravening the wish of the electorate it will increase its electoral percentage and be the first party in a second election is unwarranted and is a chimera. On the contrary a party with foresight, imagination, and daring can see that by fulfilling these strong wishes of the majority the chances are greater for such party to increase its votes than to be condemned for its participation in a coalition government with New Democracy and Pasok as Tsipras, the leader of Syriza, attempts to frighten Kouvelis. Especially when the setting up of such government is based on two conditions, (a) remaining in Europe and (b) to the extent possible radically modifies the Memorandum.

When your house is on fire you don’t ask who was responsible for it. The first thing you must do is to put the fire out before it burns your house with all those who are ready to help you. The historical and wise responsibility of Mr. Kouvelis is to cooperate with those parties which strongly want to save Greece from leaving Europe and prevent the absolute poverty that such departure would afflict the country.

The stupid and historical irresponsibility of Syriza must be countervailed by the wise, and historically daring, decision of Fotis Kouvelis to form government with New Democracy and Pasok despite their past misdeeds. It ‘s up to Kouvelis to cut this Gordian knot of Tsipras obstruction to the formation of a unity government and whether in the historical annals of Greece his name will be written in gold letters or in black charcoal.

Regrettably Kouvelis failed to cut the Gordian knot of Tsipras that obstructed a unity government and form a coalition government with New Democracy and Pasok without the participation of Syriza. He proved to be too weak to cross the intransigent and verboten line of Tsipras non-participation and boldly form government with New Democracy and Pasok at this critical time for the country. Intelligence without moral strength is useless in politics. Kouvelis’ repeated ‘rehearsal’ of an Ecumenical government, in which Syriza constantly and invariably refused to be part of it, by obdurately and stupidly sticking to it to the end became a burlesque farce. History will not be kind to him for this remarkable dereliction of duty and lack of courage before this great danger of the country when the question for it is to be or not to be, and he will be justifiably and appropriately be condemned for his obdurate refusal and failure of character to play a major part in salvaging Greece from its deadly woes that put at risk not only the economic but also the democratic existence of the country.

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Critics of the War

The Liberal political courtesans Paul Krugman, Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich, not to mention the less charming ones of the New York Times, provocatively egged on by their young 'madam' Arthur Sulzberger, are transforming the sweetness of their profession into the bitterness of their politics against the war.

"If the leader is filled with high ambition and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles."
Karl Von Clausewitz